Chapter 8

When the entire house returned to darkness, Charles and Jeffrey both let out a heavy sigh.

Everyone had just reassigned the rooms.

On the second floor, Piper, Emily, and Madeline squeezed into the room farthest from the stairs on the wall side.

Gerald was in the middle, opposite the patient's room.

Rachel's room was the farthest from the patient, closest to the stairs, but right next to Gerald's, in case of any more incidents.

Charles and Jeffrey stayed on the first floor in a suite with an inner door.

After everyone went into their rooms, only Rachel stood dazed at the stairs, looking up.

She didn't know if she should return to that eerie place.

At this moment, everyone had returned to their rooms.

The dim hallway light stretched her shadow.

Rachel was startled by a cold wind from nowhere and sneezed violently.

She looked back out the window; the wind was still raging, and the branches outside were flailing wildly, like a spider lunging at her with its front legs!

Rachel dared not stay any longer. She covered her mouth and quickly ran upstairs, slamming her door shut.

The house returned to silence.

Inside the room, Charles had just finished his shower. He was half-naked, rummaging for something to defend himself with.

Jeffrey couldn't sleep and decided to chat with Charles, but he saw Charles's bare upper body.

His back muscles bulged, and a deep, long scar ran from his right shoulder blade to his waist.

"Charles, you..."

Charles was displeased with Jeffrey's uninvited presence.

He frowned and quickly pulled on a tank top.

"What are you doing up in the middle of the night?"

"The scar on your back," Jeffrey pointed, "that's not an ordinary wound."

"Is it any of your business? We're not close enough to share secrets, are we?" Charles said coldly, then reconsidered. "Jeffrey, did you need something?"

Seeing Charles so guarded, Jeffrey shrugged. "I couldn't sleep, so I came to chat."

Charles nodded, signaling him to continue.

Jeffrey went on, "This house has been unoccupied for at least three years."

Charles was stunned, recalling their unfinished conversation from earlier.

"But this community clearly had people living here before, and the fountain is still running. It must have been lively."

Jeffrey said, "As a forest ranger, I know a bit about houses and insects."

"This house, just from the porch, is no different from the abandoned cabins in the woods. Not to mention, I found a lot of insect eggs in the garden soil."

"Even if the lady said the neighbors moved out recently, we saw through the windows that the houses were full of dust and cobwebs, which can't happen in just a few months."

Charles rubbed his chin, pacing to the window.

If Jeffrey's theory was right, this should be an abandoned area. So why did the "lady" and her family choose to live here?

And why, despite the large family, were there no signs of habitation?

Could it be a temporary family, following a script?

No, he remembered the elite man's words: there's only danger here, no script.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Charles saw something moving in the window gap, like a mass of hair.

"Jeffrey, come here."

Charles called Jeffrey over, pointing at the dark mass.

"Spiders! Damn, so many!"

Jeffrey's face darkened as he used the curtain to swat at the spiders.

"You're right, a normal inhabited house wouldn't have so many spiders."

As they stared at the spiders, a strange stench wafted over from the second floor.

"Do you smell that?" Charles asked.

Jeffrey nodded, looking up at the ceiling.

He finally saw liquid seeping from the floorboard seams above the bed, dark brown and foul-smelling.

"Fuck, what is that?" Jeffrey said, dragging Charles's bed away from the stain.

Charles stood still, remembering the thin note.

"Jeffrey, listen to me."

"Tonight, don't sleep, and don't turn on the lights. No matter what happens outside, stay in bed."

Jeffrey paused, stopping his actions.

Seeing Charles's serious expression, he swallowed his questions.

"Okay."

He knew Charles didn't like unwarranted suspicion.

Jeffrey returned to his room, opened the inner door to connect the rooms, then quickly turned off the light and got into bed.

Darkness fell again, and the wind outside howled fiercely.

Jeffrey's mind was restless. He wanted to check on Charles but remembered his words and sighed heavily.

Sleepiness soon overcame him. Even as he pinched his arm, his eyes couldn't stay open.

Finally, he couldn't hold on any longer.